Purdue to host screening of Aldo Leopold documentary
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A film about the life and work of American conservationist Aldo Leopold, a key figure of 20th century environmentalism and ecology, will premiere Nov. 15 at Purdue University.
"Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time" will be shown at 7 p.m. in Stewart Center's Fowler Hall. It is free and open to the public.
The 73-minute documentary is scheduled for nationwide distribution next year and for broadcast on Public Broadcasting Service stations around Earth Day, which is April 22, said Buddy Huffaker, executive director of the Aldo Leopold Foundation Inc. Huffaker, a Purdue landscape architecture graduate, is the film's executive producer.
"'Green Fire' is more than just a documentary about Aldo Leopold. It also explores the influence his ideas have had in shaping the conservation movement as we know it today," Huffaker said.
Leopold (1887-1948), an Iowa native who was a University of Wisconsin professor, is best known for his posthumous book "A Sand County Almanac," a series of essays advocating his idea of a "land ethic" between man and nature. The book has sold more than 2 million copies.
Leopold's youngest son, Carl, was a plant physiologist and a Purdue faculty member in 1949 when "A Sand County Almanac" was published. Carl Leopold's own research culminated with his published work "Plant Growth and Development."
"Green Fire" refers to the image Leopold said he observed in the eyes of a dying wolf he had shot.
"Aldo Leopold came to realize that wolves are part of the mountains they inhabit, a profound understanding given the cultural bias against such predators in the early 1900s," Huffaker said. "He realized he needed to 'think like a mountain.'"
West Lafayette is among more than 50 U.S. cities hosting a "Green Fire" screening. The film has been shown in 16 countries since its pre-public release six months ago.
Huffaker will attend the Purdue premiere and introduce the film. He also is scheduled to meet with students and faculty from Purdue's Department of Forestry and Natural Resources before the screening and on Nov. 16.
"Green Fire" was produced through a partnership of the Leopold Foundation, the Center for Humans and Nature, and U.S. Forest Service.
For more information about the film or foundation, visit https://www.greenfiremovie.com/ or https://aldoleopold.org/
For a schedule of events connected to the Purdue premiere, contact William Hoover, assistant head of Purdue's Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, at 765-494-3580, billh@purdue.edu. The department is sponsoring the screening, along with Purdue's Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, U.S. Forest Service and Sycamore Audubon Society.
Writer: Steve Leer, 765-494-8415, sleer@purdue.edu
Sources: Buddy Huffaker, 608-355-0279, buddy@aldoleopold.org
William Hoover, 765-494-3580, billh@purdue.edu
Ag Communications: (765) 494-2722;
Keith Robinson, robins89@purdue.edu
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